The poetry

The statue of Väinämöinen by Robert Stigell (1888) decorating the Vanha Ylioppilastalo (Old University House) built in 1870 in Helsinki, Finland.

Finnish folk poetry was first written down in the 1670s,[citation needed] and collected by a few hobbyists during the next centuries. In the 17th century, folk poetry vanished from Western Finland, when the European rhyme poetry displaced it. In the 19th century, collecting became more extensive and systematic. Altogether, almost two million verses were collected during this time. Of these, about 1,250,000 have been published; some 500,000 remain unpublished in the archives of the Finnish Literature Society and the collections in Estonia and the Republic of Karelia and other parts of Russia. By the end of the nineteenth century this pastime and the cumulating orientation towards eastern lands had become a fashion called Karelianism.

Lönnrot and his contemporaries (e.g. A.J. Sjögren and D.E.D. Europaeus) collected most of the poem variants (one poem might have up to two hundred variants) scattered across rural areas of Karelia and Ingria. They carefully noted the name of the poem singer, its age, the place of performance, and the date. During his fourth field trip, in September 1833, Lönnrot got the idea that the poems might represent a wider continuity when poem entities were performed to him along with comments in normal speech connecting them.

The poetry was usually sung to tunes built on a pentachord, sometimes assisted by the kantele (a five-string zither of a kind). The rhythm could vary but the tunes were arranged in either two or four lines consisting of five beats each. Sometimes the poems were performed antiphonally, sometimes they were a part of a "singing-match" between knowers of the tradition. Despite the vast geographical distance and customary spheres separating the individual singers, the poetry was always sung in the same metre, the so-called archaic trochaic tetrameter (usually called "Kalevala meter"). Its other formal features are alliteration, parallel sentences, and also inversion into chiasmus.

The chronology of this oral tradition is uncertain. The seemingly oldest themes (the origin of Earth) have been interpreted to have their roots in distant, unrecorded history while the seemingly latest events (e.g. the arrival of Christianity) seem to be from the Iron Age. According to Finnish folklorist Kaarle Krohn, some 20 poems of the Kalevala could be of Ancient Estonian origin or at least deals with a motif of Estonian origin.[1]

Of the dozens of poem singers who contributed to the Kalevala, significant ones are:

Lönnrot’s contribution to Kalevala

Lönnrot arranged the collected poems into a coherent whole. In this process he merged poem variants and characters together and left out verses that did not fit in or composed lines of his own in order to connect certain passages into a logical plot. He even invented a few names which could be used for a character throughout the whole story. It has been estimated that the Kalevala comprises: one third of word for word recordings by the collectors, 50% of material that Lönnrot adjusted slightly, 14% of verses he wrote himself based on poem variants and 3% of verses purely of his own invention.[citation needed] What can be thought to be Lönnrot's most significant contribution is the arrangement of the poems. In the preface of Old Kalevala (signed on February 28, 1835), Lönnrot highlights the possibility that somebody other than he could select different poems variants and that Kalevala would still be as genuine as it was on the day of its completion. As a matter of fact, Lönnrot added some 3,000 verses of poem variants in the end of the Old Kalevala for others to compare.

Publishing

The first version of Lönnrot's compilation, Kalewala, taikka Wanhoja Karjalan Runoja Suomen Kansan muinoisista ajoista (The Kalevala, or old Karelian poems about ancient times of the Finnish people), also known as simply the Old Kalevala, came out in two volumes in 1835–1836. The Old Kalevala consisted of 12,078 verses or thirty-two poems.

Lönnrot continued to collect new material, which he integrated into a second edition, Kalevala (the Kalevala), published in 1849. This "new Kalevala" contains fifty poems, and is the standard text of the Kalevala read now.

Translations

Of the five full translations into English, the older translations by John Martin Crawford (1888), William Forsell Kirby (1907) and the more recent Eino Friberg translation (1989) follow the original rhythm (Kalevala meter) of the poems. The Canadian, Edward Taylor Fletcher, also translated selections of the Kalevala in 1869, reading them before the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec on 17 March of the same year. [2][3]

The scholarly translation by Francis Peabody Magoun Jr. (1963) is an attempt to keep the literal meaning of the poem intact for study and preservation reasons and is written in prose; the appendices of this version also contain many notes on the history of the poem, comparisons between the original Old Kalevala and the currently most well-known version, and a detailed glossary of terms and names used in the poem. The most recent version by the poet Keith Bosley (1998) is written in a more fluid linguistic style.

A notable partial translation of the German translation (by Franz Anton Schiefner published in 1852) was made by Prof. John Addison Porter in 1868 and published by Leypoldt & Holt. An article on this version is available here.

So far the Kalevala has been translated into forty-nine languages. Parts of the book have been translated to sixty languages.

Partial list of translations in chronological order by language (Based partially on the list made by Rauni Puranen):

The story

Synopses

Cantos 1–10: The first Väinämöinen cycle: origin of Earth; the first man; Väinämöinen and Joukahainen’s encounter; Joukahainen promises his sister’s hand to Väinämöinen in exchange for his life; Aino (Joukahainen’s sister) walks into the sea; Joukahainen’s revenge; the wounded Väinämöinen floats into Pohjola (Northland); Väinämöinen encounters the Maid of the North and promises the Mistress of the North the Sampo in exchange for her daughter; Väinämöinen tricks the smith Ilmarinen into Pohjola where he forges the Sampo.

Cantos 11–15: The first Lemminkäinen cycle: Lemminkäinen steals the maid Kyllikki of the Island; they make a vow; she forgets her vow; Lemminkäinen travels to Pohjola to propose to the Maid of the North; deeds Lemminkäinen must accomplish: ski for the Demon’s elk, bridle the Demon’s horse and shoot the Swan of Tuonela (the land of the dead); a herdsman kills Lemminkäinen and throws him into the River of Tuonela; Lemminkäinen’s mother awakens him into life.

Cantos 16–18: The second Väinämöinen cycle: Väinämöinen' travels to Tuonela and to meet Antero Vipunen in order to get spells for boat building and sails to Pohjola; Ilmarinen and Väinämöinen compete for the hand of the Maid of the North.

Cantos 19–25: Ilmarinen's wedding: Ilmarinen accomplishes the needed deeds with the help of the Maid: ploughing the viper-field, quelling of the wolves of Tuonela and catching the pike out of the River of Tuonela; the wedding of Ilmarinen and the Maid of the North. The story of the brewing of the ale.

Cantos 26–30: The second Lemminkäinen cycle: Lemminkäinen is resentful for not having been invited to the wedding; he travels to Pohjola and wins the duel with the Master of Northland; an army is conjured to get back at Lemminkäinen; at his mother’s advice he flees to the Island of Refuge; returning home he sees that his house is burned down; he goes to Pohjola with his companion Tiera to get revenge but the Mistress of the North freezes the seas and Lemminkäinen has to return home.

Cantos 31–36: The Kullervo cycle: Untamo kills his brother Kalervo’s people except for the wife who begets Kullervo; Untamo gives Kullervo several tasks but he sabotages them all; Kullervo is sold as a slave to Ilmarinen; after being tormented by Ilmarinen’s wife, he exacts revenge and the wife gets killed; Kullervo runs away and finds his family unharmed near Lapland; Kullervo seduces a maiden and later finds out she is his sister; Kullervo destroys Untamola (the realm of Untamo) and upon returning home finds every one killed; Kullervo kills himself.

Cantos 37–38: The second Ilmarinen cycle: Ilmarinen forges himself a wife out of gold and silver but finds her to be cold and discards her; Ilmarinen then robs the sister of the Maid of the North from Pohjola; she insults him so he discards her; Ilmarinen tells Väinämöinen of the carefree life of Pohjola because of the Sampo.

Cantos 39–44: The plunder of the Sampo (third Väinämöinen cycle): Väinämöinen, Ilmarinen and Lemminkäinen sail to get the Sampo; they kill a great pike out of whose jaw bone the first kantele is made; Väinämöinen lulls everyone in the hall of Pohjola to sleep with his singing and the Sampo is stolen; the Mistress of the Northland conjures a great army, turns herself into an eagle and fights for the Sampo; the Sampo falls into the sea.

Cantos 45–49: Louhi's revenge on Kalevala: The Mistress of the North sends the people of Kaleva diseases and a bear to kill their cattle; she hides the sun and the moon and steals fire from Kaleva; Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen restore fire and Väinämöinen forces the Mistress to return the Sun and the Moon to the skies.

Canto 50: The Marjatta cycle: Marjatta gets impregnated from a berry she ate and begets a son, an allusion to Mary and Jesus Christ; Väinämöinen orders the killing of the boy; the boy starts to speak and reproaches Väinämöinen for ill judgement; he is then baptised king of Karelia; Väinämöinen sails away.

Characters

The main character of the Kalevala is Väinämöinen, a shamanistic hero with the magical power of songs and music. He is born of the primeval Maiden of the Air and contributes to the origin of Earth. Many of his travels resemble shamanistic journeys, most notably the one where he visits the belly of a ground-giant, Antero Vipunen, to find the words of boat generation. He plays the kantele, a Finnish stringed instrument that resembles and is played like a zither. One of his kanteles is made of the jaw-bone of a giant pike. His search for a wife is a central element in many stories; he never finds one, though. For example one of the brides, Joukahainen's sister Aino, drowns herself instead of marrying him. He is also part of the group who steals the Sampo, a magical mill, from the people of Pohjola.

Seppo Ilmarinen, a heroic artificer-smith (comparable to the Germanic Weyland and perhaps the Greek Daedalus) crafted the sky dome, the Sampo and more. Ilmarinen is also one of the group who steal the Sampo.

Louhi the Hag of the North, is a shamanistic matriarch of a people rivalling those of Kalevala who at one stage pulls the sun and the moon from the sky and steals the fire away from the people of Kalevala. She rules Pohjola alone after Lemminkäinen has killed her husband, Master of Pohjola. She promises her daughter to Ilmarinen in exchange for him building a Sampo.

Väinämöinen's young rival Joukahainen promises his sister Aino to Väinämöinen when he loses a singing contest. When Joukahainen attempts to gain his revenge on Väinämöinen by killing him with a crossbow, he fails, but his actions lead to Väinämöinen promising to build a Sampo in return for Louhi rescuing him.

Vengeful, self-destructive Kullervo who is born as a slave, sold to Ilmarinen and given work by Ilmarinen's wife whom he later kills. Kullervo is a misguided and troubled youth often at odds with himself and his situation. He often goes into berserk rage and in the end commits suicide.

Handsome but arrogant Lemminkäinen, whose mother must rescue him from the river of Death which runs through Tuonela, and bring him to life, echoing the myth of Osiris. Lemminkäinen is the third member of the group which steals the Sampo from Pohjola.

Some of the chapters describe ancient origin-myths, a long wedding ceremony, and the right words for magical spells of healing and craftsmanship.

The last chapter, Son of Marjatta, is an allegory of Christianization of Finland. Maid Marjatta becomes pregnant after eating a lingonberry (allusion of Maria to marja (Finnish for berry) and gives birth to a son. Since the son has been born out of wedlock, Väinämöinen sentences him to be killed. The infant boy then begins to speak and demands Ukko as his judge. After the infant has witnessed sad details of Väinämöinen's own past and of Väinämöinen's own culpability, Ukko declares the young infant boy as the King of Karelia. In the end Väinämöinen exits the material world, but leaves his kantele (symbol for poetry and literary arts) as heirloom for Finns.

Arctolatry in the Kalevala

The practice of bear-worship, arctolatry, was once very common in Finland and there are strong echoes of this in the Kalevala.[4]

Influence of the Kalevala

As a major part of Finnish culture and history the influence of the Kalevala is widespread in Finland from music to fine arts. The Kalevala's influence has also been felt in other cultures around the world although to a lesser degree.

The ill-fated Kullervo has been a source of inspiration for several authors.

Celebration

The Kalevala Day is celebrated in Finland on the 28 February, which is how Elias Lönnrot dated his first version of the Kalevala in 1835.

Several of the names in Kalevala are also celebrated as Finnish name days, although this has no direct relationship with the Kalevala itself.

Art-work

Several artists have been influenced by the Kalevala, most notably Akseli Gallen-Kallela who has painted many pieces relating to the Kalevala.

One of the earliest artists to depict a scene from the Kalevala is Robert Wilhelm Ekman. One drawing from 1886 depicts Väinämöinen playing his kantele.

Aarno Karimo was a Finnish artist who illustrated the beautiful Kuva Kalevala (Published by Pellervo-Seura in 1953). He died before completing it. Hugo Otava finished it using original sketches as a guide.

In 1989 the fourth full translation of Kalevala into English was published, richly illustrated by Björn Landström.

Literature

The Kalevala has not only been translated into over forty-five forms of speech but it has also been retold in many speeches and adapted to different situation.

The most famous example of the Kalevala's influence upon another author is most likely with J.R.R. Tolkien. He claimed the Kalevala as one of his sources for the writings which became the Silmarillion. For example, the story of Kullervo has been extensively used in the Silmarillion (including the sword that speaks when the anti-hero uses it for a suicide) as the basis of Túrin Turambar in Narn i Chîn Húrin. Echoes of the Kalevala's characters, Väinämöinen in particular, can also be found in Tom Bombadil of The Lord of the Rings.

It is often claimed that the Estonian national epic Kalevipoeg (compiled and written by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, first published 1853) was somewhat inspired by the Kalevala. Mainly because both Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen are mentioned in the poem and that the overall story of the Kalevipoeg (Kalev's son) bears some major similarities with the Kullervo story.

Another famous book is the children's book Koirien Kalevala (The Canine Kalevala) written and illustrated by Mauri Kunnas. (Translated into English by Tim Steffa). This book inspired the American (US) cartoonist Keno Don Rosa to draw a Donald Duck (both of whom enjoy a widespread popularity in Finland) story based on the Kalevala, called The Quest for Kalevala.

The Neustadt Prize winning poet and playwright Paavo Haavikko who is regarded as one of Finland's finest writers, is also known to have taken a lot of influence from the Kalevala.

Emil Petaja (1915 - 2000) - an American science fiction and fantasy author of Finnish descent - is best known for his series inspired by the Kalevala. In each of the books which comprise the "Otava Series" - Saga of Lost Earth's (Ace Books, 1966), Star Mill (Ace Books, 1966), The Stolen Sun (Ace Books, 1967), and Tramontane (Ace Books, 1967), an Earth descendant of one of the four main heroes of the Kalevala is reborn into an avatar's role in order to re-enact adventures on Otava, the planet of origin of the Kalevala pantheon. Petaja's Otava series brought him readers from around the world[5], while his mythological approach to science fiction was discussed in scholarly papers.[6] A fifth book in the cycle, Return to Otava (1970), is unpublished. Another Petaja novel unconnected with the series but related to the Kalevala is The Time Twister (Dell, 1968).

Parts of the Kalevala are recited by Colonel Vereshchagin in Robert Frezza's A Small Colonial War and by Michael Havel in S.M. Stirling's Dies the Fire.

Music

Music is probably the area which has the richest influence from the Kalevala, which is fitting because of the nature that the original folk singers would perform the poems. Because of the folk music history of the Kalevala there have been a few folk music records and anthologies based upon or claiming inspiration from the Kalevala.

The most famous music inspired by the Kalevala is probably that of the classical composer Jean Sibelius. Twelve of Sibelius' best known works are based upon and influenced by the Kalevala, including his Kullervo, a symphony for soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra that he composed in 1892. There are also three contemporary operas based on the Kalevala (Sammon ryöstö, Marjatta and Thomas) composed by Einojuhani Rautavaara.

Classical music is however not the only area of influence. There was a Finnish progressive rock band called Kalevala in the seventies. They made three albums, which are not currently available as CDs, however an anthology set was published in 2004. There are other bands named after the finnish epic, the Italian Hard Rock/ folk band Kalevala, born in the 2000, and the Russian Folk metal band with the same name

The Finnish metal band Amorphis have based several concept albums on the Kalevala using the original translation as lyrics. The band are well known for their use of the Kalevala as a source for their lyrics. Their albums specifically inspired by the Kalevala are Tales from the Thousand Lakes, Elegy, Eclipse, Silent Waters and Skyforger. Also, Finnish Folk metal band Ensiferum have based several songs such as "Old Man" and "Little Dreamer" on the Kalevala as well. On Ensiferum's 2006 EP, Dragonheads, the third track, entitled "Kalevala Melody" is an instrumental version of "Vaka vanha Väinämöinen". The Finnish folk metal band Turisas used a section of runo 9 "The Origin of Iron" nearly verbatim for the lyrics of their song "Cursed Be Iron" (on The Varangian Way). Also, Finnish female-fronted metal band Amberian Dawn used lyrics inspired by the Kalevala in their album "River Of Tuoni", as well as in its successor.

The Finnish metal band "Sentenced" used the frozen land of "Pohjola" as isperation for the albums "Journey to Pohjola" and the finnish death metal pillar album "North from Here" released in 1992 and 1993.

Also, the Karelian Finnish folk music group Värttinä has based some of its lyrics on motifs from the Kalevala. Vantaa Chamber Choir sings poems from Kalevala. They made an album Marian virsi (2005) with some traditional sung poems.

In 2003, the Finnish progressive rock quarterly Colossus and French Musea Records convinced 30 progressive rock groups from all over the world to compose musical pieces based on assigned parts of the Kalevala. The result was a three-disc, multilingual, four hour epic of the same name, and can be regarded as one of the most ambitious musical projects ever. See: Kalevala (project)

Film

In 1959 a joint Finnish/Soviet production entitled Sampo (aka The Day the Earth Froze) was released, inspired by the story of the Sampo from the Kalevala.

The martial arts film Jadesoturi (aka Jade Warrior), released in Finland on October 13, 2006, is based upon the Kalevala and set in Finland and China.

Historic interpretations of Kalevala

Several interpretations for the themes in Kalevala have been put forward. Some parts of the epic have been perceived as ancient conflicts between Finnics and Samis. In this context, the country of Kalevala could be understood as Southern Finland and Pohjola as Lapland. However, the place names in Kalevala seem to transfer the Kalevala further south, which has been interpreted as reflecting the Finnic settlement expansion from the South that came to push the Samis further to the north. Some scholars locate the lands of Kalevala to East Karelia, where most of the Kalevala stories were written down. In 1961 a small town of Uhtua in the SovietRepublic of Karelia was renamed "Kalevala," perhaps to promote that theory.

Proponents of a Southern Kalevala argue that the name Kaleva probably was first recorded in an atlas of al Idrisi in the year 1154, where a town of qlwny (or tlwny) is recorded. This is probably present-day Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, known in old East Slavic sources as Kolyvan. The Finnish word Kalevan ("of Kaleva") has almost the same meaning as Kalevala. The Saari (literally "the Island") might be the island of Saaremaa in Estonia, while the people of Väinölä might have some resemblance with the Livonian tribe of Veinalensis in present-day Latvia, mentioned in the 13th century chronicle connected to Henry of Livonia. Ancient Finns, Estonians and Livonians spoke similar Finnic dialects and are thought to share common ancestry.

However, Matti Kuusi and Pertti Anttonen state in their book "Kalevala Lipas" (Finnish Literary Society, 1985) that such terms as "the people of Kalevala" or "the tribe of Kalevala" are made up out of whole cloth by Elias Lönnrot. Moreover, they contend that the word "Kalevala" is very rare in traditional poetry and that by emphasizing dualism (Kalevala vs. Pohjola) Elias Lönnrot created the required tension that made the Kalevala dramatically successful and thus fit for a national epic.

Lastly, in common with loan words from Indo-European — in particular, the North Germanic languages — the Sampo cycle is considered to be a borrowing from Scandinavian cultures to the west.

The Uses of Tradition : a Comparative Enquiry Into the Nature, Uses and Functions of Oral Poetry in the Balkans, the Baltic and Africa, ed. by Michael Branch and Celia Hawkesworth (1994) ISBN 0903425386

From Wikiquote

The Kalevala is a Finnish
mythological poem, compiled by the 19th century folklorist Elias Lönnrot from traditional ballads
and some original material. It is considered the Finnish national
epic, and has profoundly influenced artists as diverse as Tolkien, Sibelius and Longfellow.
Quotations are taken from the English translation by John Martin
Crawford.

There are many other legends,
Incantations that were taught me,
That I found along the wayside,
Gathered in the fragrant copses,
Blown me from the forest branches,
Culled among the plumes of pine-trees,
Scented from the vines and flowers,
Whispered to me as I followed
Flocks in land of honeyed meadows.

Proem, line 53

Many runes the cold has told me,
Many lays the rain has brought me,
Other songs the winds have sung me.
Many birds from many forests,
Oft have sung me lays n concord
Waves of sea, and ocean billows,
Music from the many waters,
Music from the whole creation,
Oft have been my guide and master.

Proem, line 65

Thus the ancient Wainamoinen,
In his copper-banded vessel,
Left his tribe in Kalevala,
Sailing o'er the rolling billows,
Sailing through the azure vapors,
Sailing through the dusk of evening,
Sailing to the fiery sunset,
To the higher-landed regions,
To the lower verge of heaven;

Canto 50, line 493

There his bark he firmly anchored,
Rested in his boat of copper;
But be left his harp of magic,
Left his songs and wisdom-sayings,
To the lasting joy of Suomi.

Canto 50, line 504

Thus the wise and worthy singer
Sings not all his garnered wisdom;
Better leave unsung some sayings
Than to sing them out of season.

From Wikisource

The Kalevala is an epic poem which Elias Lönnrot compiled from
Finnish folk lore in the 19th century. It is commonly called the
Finnish national epic and is traditionally thought of as one of the
most significant works of Finnish-language literature. The Kalevala
is credited with some of the inspiration for the national awakening
that ultimately led to Finland's independence from Russia in
1917.

This work may need to be
standardized using Wikisource's style guidelines.If you'd like to help, please review the help
pages.

The Marjatta
Cycle

This translation is hosted with different
licensing information than from the original text. The translation
status applies to this edition.

Original:

This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide
because the author died at least 100 years ago.

Translation:

This work is in the public domain in
the United States because it was published before
January 1, 1923.

The author died in 1916, so this work is also in the
public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is
the author's life plus 80 years or less. This work
may also be in the public domain in countries and
areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter
term to foreign works.

Finnish

Proper
noun

Derived
terms

" (The Aino Story) by Akseli Gallen-Kallela 1891]]
Kalevala is the Finnish national epic. This means it is a book that is very important to Finnish people.

Kalevala has many stories in it. The stories of Kalevala are poems that are very old. Long ago, people sang these poems. The poems have a unique metre that is not known outside Finnic languages. There are many themes in these stories from different times in the past. The oldest themes are from the stone age. Many of the poems are collected from Karelia and areas nearby.

Heroes have adventures in these stories. The most important heroes are Väinämöinen, Ilmarinen, Lemminkäinen and Kullervo. The enemies of heroes are Louhi and Joukahainen. Many stories in Kalevala are about two countries fighting each other. These countries are the land of Kalevala and land of Pohjola. The Land of Kalevala is the land of Heroes. Pohjola is the land of enemies. Pohjola is an evil and cold place somewhere far north.

Elias Lönnrot was a man who collected these poems and made a book of them. Kalevala has been translated into many languages. There is also an English Kalevala.